Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Word reached us in early January that a veteran of the Winnipeg chess scene, Frank Milord, passed away in October. This undoubtedly came as a shock to many of us who saw him as recently as the September TNT, where he played all four rounds.

Les Mundwiler provides a brief snapshot and a game:

Information about Frank Milord's
chess career is rather sketchy, so far as my files are concerned, before
2000. In the April 1999 Exclam! you'll find that Frank's performance
rating in the Kent Oliver--January 8-10, 1999)--was 1787 (his CFC rating
then was 1709). His big achievement in that event, at normal tournament
time controls, was to defeat Expert Jim Lauritson. Unfortunately we
don't have the game. Maybe Jim would share that one with us. Also in
January that year he was equal first in the TNT with A-Class player
Jeff Cummer. Jack Woodbury annotated the draw between them in the same
issue of Exclam!

CFC's online record for Frank's events goes
back to the Winnipeg Canada Day event of July 1996, when his rating
was 1604. A quick perusal of his tournament record confirms the impression
so many of us had that this was a "sneaky strong" B Class
(sometimes C Class!) player, who often turned in A Class performances.
Even that understates the case because, in many games versus higher-rated
players, Frank was content to take a draw; sometimes he had to drive
his cab later the same evening!(more about this later ! AJB) In 2010 he had performance ratings of
1859 and 1895 in the August and March TNTs, respectively. Over the years
1998-2000 he had performance ratings over 1900 four times. His chess
ideal was Rubinstein, a solid, classical player, and the game I've chosen
to annotate--I'm sure Frank played many better games--doesn't much reflect
that ideal but it is an interesting contest.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 {
Avoiding the usual Sveshnikov trouble, presumably in order to play Nc3, but
also relieving Black's game by covering d5 with a pawn.} 7... Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8
9. c4 a6 10. Nc3 Be7 11. Be2 O-O 12. O-O 12... f5 {Now Black has,
strategically, a clear way ahead, and that's the kind of thing Frank's
opponents usually avoided giving him, if they wanted to win the opening phase.}
13. f4 {Jay's aggressive style is always aimed at the centre but in this case
he's giving a bit of aid and comfort to Black's game.} 13... Qb6+ (13... e4) ({
and} 13... Bf6 {
were also playable, but the Q check certainly expands Black's scope.}) 14. Kh1
14... Qd4 $5 {An interesting--even shocking--try. White must examine the Q
exchange possibility, and then look at useful ways to avoid the Q exchange,
and then consider a move such as 15.fxe5, which would force Black to exchange
Qs--with what sort of middlegame? White decides to duck.} 15. Qb3 (15. Qxd4
exd4 16. Na4 16... Bd8 {is probably okay for Black, and would not be to Jay's
liking in any case. Much too fussy and unpredictable.}) 15... Nd7 {
Now the BN threatens to rejoin the game with a tempo gain.} 16. Na4 {
White resists that idea but in the process sidelines his QN.} 16... e4 $1 {
Frank consolidates in the centre and equalizes.} 17. Be3 Qf6 18. c5 $5 {
White is "not one to sit idly by" and let the initiative slip away.} 18... b5
$5 {An amazing idea. Black diverts a pawn from the centre and by targeting it,
ties up a good portion of White's forces on the Q-side.} 19. cxb6 Rb8 20. Rac1
{Targeting c7 cannot be bad.} 20... Bd8 21. Rxc8 $5 {
At 9 ply this looks best to Fritz, too.} 21... Rxc8 22. b7 Rb8 23. Ba7 23...
Ba5 {Now if White recovers the Exchange, the BN protects the a-pawn and Black
still has something to work with on the K-side. So, White goes for the BPa6
first...} 24. Bxa6 Bd2 25. Qc2 25... e3 {Black's B+P cover a lot of frontage
and pose some real difficulties for White to solve even if White takes back
the Exchange here. So, White looks for a finesse...} 26. Qc7 {
Probably not as good as just taking the R.} 26... Qd8 $5 {Black keeps the game
spinning by offering another pawn, when in fact White can boil things down
with BxR followed by a Q exchange.} 27. Qxd6 {Why not?} 27... Rf6 $1 {
If you have to mix, this is the only way to go. Please note, White's reply is
the best, too.} 28. Bxb8 Rxd6 29. Bxd6 Nb8 30. Bxb8 Qxb8 31. Nc5 31... e2 $1 {
Best defence. By taking White's f4 pawn, Black gains another piece to cover
the promotion square.} 32. Bxe2 Bxf4 33. Ba6 33... Qd6 {With the sort of
simple threat that is often difficult to see if you're on the brink of winning.
As White finds, "it's not too late to lose."} 34. b4 34... Bxh2 {
Black has set up a threat and White misses it.} 35. Re1 35... Qh6 $1 36. Re6 g6
37. Nd7 $2 {Probably the losing move. After Black's last White should have
nailed down everything (37.a3 perhaps) and prepared for an across-the-board
run with the WK, before collecting the full point. Trying to abbreviate that
allows Black to regain material and to hold a decisive edge.} 37... Bg3+ 38.
Kg1 Qh2+ 39. Kf1 Qh1+ 40. Ke2 Qxg2+ 41. Kd3 (41. Ke3 {was better defence, but
at current time controls it's understandable that White misses that.}) 41...
Qxd5+ 42. Kc3 42... Qxd7 $1 ({It was not too late for Black to lose either:}
42... Qxe6 43. Bc4) 43. Bc4 Kg7 44. Rb6 44... Bb8 {Good enough. In Frank's
straightahead style, the K-side passed pawns will decide.} 45. Kb3 45... f4 {
This game was played July 22, 2003 in the July TNT.} 0-1

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

January 17, 2012 marked the 4th anniversary of Robert J. Fischer's death. Earlier this year, Harley Greenberg requested that an acquaintance, who was travelling to Iceland,. place some flowers on Fischer's grave.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Kevin Li travelled to Calgary last week to play in the 2012 Canadian Junior Championship. He finished in 4th place, with 4 points from 7 games. He only gave up points to the 3 players that finished ahead of him.
He also played 4 FIDE players so, along with the 5 games he has from Manitoba event, he should have a FIDE rating at the end of February.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Last, for the second year, I indicated some of my goals, and invited readers to share theirs in this post.
(The 2010 post is here)

First, a review of 2011.

Me (Tony Boron) - Well, it looks like I forgot to state my goals !
I think they would have been
1. To achieve a 2100 CFC Rating - Well, I didn't play all that much before August (17 games), and was only sitting at 2000 when the September TNT started, but ended at 2054 - with enough good results to qualify for the 2012 Manitoba Championship (there will an updated post on that soon)

Steven (de Groot I will assume):Goal 1: 1900 CFC (Steven got back to 1848 gaining 76 points in 4 tournaments)Goal 2: +0 score in open AY (yup. 2.5 from 5 )Goal 3: Defeat an opponent rated over 2000.(I don't think it happened, but he drew with at least 2, and if he played more it certainly will happen)

Stephen Lipic1. Get to 2000 rating. (He didn't have a good shot at this - as most times he acted as the house player for our tournaments)2. Win a TNT (He tied for first in the March TNT, defeating Les Mundwiler in the last round !)3. Beat a titled player !(I don't think he played one - maybe Yermo in a simul ?)

Well, life gets in the way and Stephen had a big year - got engaged, bought a house - that's enough!

Jonathon Zaczek

-Become Manitoba Champion. The only tournament that I haven't won. (Trevor Vincent won the final)-Become a FIDE Master (or any other title is fine too) :P (Tougher than it looks, unless one travels - he did to Poland, but he keeps losing to little unrated kids)

Oh and I want to be the #1 CFC rated player in Manitoba (sorry, I knocked Jonathan off in the FIDE Futurity when was exactly 2300, and its a long road back to 2300. And Trevor is sitting at a healthy 2365. But being # 2 means trying harder)

Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM424CM42 <-click here for map4 rounds - January 10, 17, 24, 31 - (This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 4 rounds)Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

Tuesday
Night Tournaments are held every month of the year, (except for
November and December when things are organized a little differently).

There is one game per week.

All of the TNTs are Swiss (pairing) style tournaments with a time control of G /110 minutes [Each player has 1 hour 50 minutes to complete their moves, the game will be be 3 hours and 40 minutes maximum]

The TNTs are typically 4 round events (one game for 4 consecutive Tuesdays in the month).

Start time is 7:00 pm and the TD will confirm costs(
$5 (five !) entry fee for all , and CFC membership required[$ 20 for a
one-tournament membership or $ 49 for 12 months- new members pay only
$ 36 for the year for the membership])

Registration for tournament -Tuesday, January 10 - approximately 6:35 pm to 6:50 pm

Registration will be cut off at 6:50 pm. (If you think you may be late, please send an email tochessmanitoba 'at' gmail.com) before 5 pm (you can try later, but the wireless access at the U may be problematic)

Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM424CM42 <-click here for map

This is very near our old room of 5L24 and is in fact on the same floor.

Easiest
way to get there is the same way to 5L24 - take the elevator at the
north end (Ellice) to the 5th Floor(if that Elevator is operating)
Otherwise, there is an elevator just to the west of the Bookstore.